Fuel tanks for motor vehicles are conventionally manufactured as an enclosure with a filler neck extending from the enclosure and with an opening in an upper surface through which internal fuel tank components such as a fuel level sender unit and a fuel pump can be introduced into the tank. A closure component is required to close this opening once the internal components have been introduced, and also to provide passages through which fuel can flow to and from the engine. This closure component is also used for mounting the fuel pump when the pump is placed inside the tank, and this type of pump is referred to as an `in-tank` pump.
It is important that this closure component should be capable of sealing tightly with the surrounding material of the fuel tank. It is known to make the closure component of metal and to fit one or two fuel pipes through the metal disk and to support them and seal them in the disk by means of soldering and by internal bracketry. Separate flexible tubes are then fitted to connect the fuel pipe to an in-tank pump. Tank assemblies of this form are used, for example, in the Ford Sierra vehicle marketed in the United Kingdom by Ford Motor Company Limited in 1989. Such assemblies are, however, complicated to manufacture, requiring several assembly operations.